Arpaio's Office Never Investigated Governor Jan Brewer, Source Says

Back in November, we heard that Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's office had Governor Jan Brewer under investigation, and passed that rumor to you. It didn't seem a stretch to believe our source on the shocking piece of gossip. After all, Arpaio's office investigates its political enemies, perceived or real, at...

By Ray Stern

July 30, 2010

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Back in November, we heard that Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's office had Governor Jan Brewer under investigation, and passed that rumor to you.

It didn't seem a stretch to believe our source on the shocking piece of gossip. After all, Arpaio's office investigates its political enemies, perceived or real, at the drop of a hat.

In this case, our anonymous source was in a position to know what was going on. We never reveal our sources, though we'll remind you that we credited the rumor to "a source close to the investigation."

Well, surprise, surprise: The same source told us today that Brewer was never under investigation by the sheriff's office.

The source could not explain this reversal. The source had no answer when asked why the information about Brewer had been passed along in the first place.

How very odd, indeed.

Suffice to say that you won't be reading any more unconfirmable news flashes based on this source.

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Ray Stern is the former news editor of Phoenix New Times. He worked as a newspaper reporter in Arizona for more than two decades. He's won numerous awards for his reporting, including the Arizona Press Club's Don Bolles Award for Investigative Journalism.